STS-71 marked the 100th U.S. human space launch; the first docking of the space
shuttle with Mir; the largest combined spacecraft ever in orbit; and the first
shuttle changeout of a Mir crew. For the docking, Commander Hoot Gibson positioned
Atlantis directly below Mir, so that the Earth's gravity naturally braked the
orbiter's approach "up" to Mir. The final approach rate of about an inch per
minute ended 216 nautical miles above Russia's Lake Baykal region, with a nearly
perfect docking, off by less than one inch and one half a degree.

Together, Atlantis and Mir totaled almost one-half million pounds. After the
welcoming ceremony and transfer of responsibilities from the Mir-18 to the Mir
19 crew, joint operations included scientific investigations in the shuttle's
Spacelab module (cardiovascular, pulmonary, metabolism, neuroscience, hygiene,
sanitation, radiation, biology, and microgravity). The Mir-18 crew also exercised
intensively to prepare for re-entry and gravity after more than three months
in space.

Materials transferred to Atlantis included: urine, saliva, blood, water and
surface samples; and a broken Salyut-5 computer. Transferred to Mir were more
than 1,000 pounds of water for waste system flushing and electrolysis; custom
spacewalking tools to repair a jammed solar array on the Spektr module; and
nitrogen and oxygen to raise Mir's air pressure. The Mir 19 crew temporarily
left Mir in their Soyuz spacecraft to video Atlantis and Mir separating. Gibson
compared the separation to a "cosmic ballet." To ease their re-entry into gravity,
Mir-18 crew members Thagard, Dezhurov and Strekalov lay in custom-made Russian
seats installed in the shuttle's middeck.